Gustave madden



(No Model.)

G. MADDEN.

ROTATABLE SIGNAL LANTRN. 180.387,98). .Patented Aug. 14, 1888.

NITED STATES PATENT GUSTAVE MADDEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE ADAMS 8v W'ES'ILAIIE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ROTATABLE SIGNAL-LANTERN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 387,980, dated August 14, 1888.

(No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, GUsrnvE MADDEN, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotatable Signal-Lanterns, of which the following is a fnll specification.

My invention relates to lanterns which are rotatable in their sockets, either to display dierent-colored lights or to throw the light in different directions, and is especially applicable to the lanterns bearing various-colored lenses used ou the rear of railroad-trains.

My invention relates particularly to the device for locking the lantern in position and releasing it before turning; and my invention consists in the combination hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side view, partly in section, oi' the lower part of alantern embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a section on line ai fr, Fig. l. Figs. 3 and 4 are similar side and top views of a modification of the device shown in Figs. l and 2.

The bracket A is adapted, in a well-known and com monlynsed manner, to enter a socket affixed to the side of the car. Said bracket carries a ring, B,which, surroundingr the lan tern, affords a support in which the lantern may be easily turned. On the lower edge of the ring B a number of notches or recesses, b b, are cut, and a springcatch, O, is retained in said notches by springpressure, except when withdrawn in order to turn the lantern. The catch C is upon the end of a yielding handle, D, said yielding handle having in one case (illustrated in Fig. l) a spring-joint, E, and in the other case (illustrated in Fig. 3) a pivot-joint, F, and spiral spring E, the two last mentioned being a mechanical equivalent of the spring-joint E.

The construction shown in Fig. l differs from that shown in Fig. 3 in having a fixed cross handle, D', extending beneath the yielding one D. The purpose of said fixed handle D is to afioida support lfor the hand, so that the mere act of grasping the handles D and D will release the catch C, no separate pulling movement of the hand being required, as in the construction shown in Fig. 3. It is obvious, however, that a fixed cross-handle may be used with the construction shown in Fig. 8, and I consider the use of such handle preferable.

I do not claim, broadly, the use of a ringsupport for the lantern, in which it may be rotated, in combination with any sort of locking device for securing the lantern in any desired position, as several such devices have hereto.

fore been known and used.

I claiml. In a rotatable signal-lantern, the combination of a ring supporting the lantern and having recesses in its edge, a yielding cross handle secured in the bottom of the lantern and having at one end a. catch engaging in said recesses in the supporting-ring, and a spring tending to hold said catch in engagement with said recesses.

2. In a rotatable signal-lantern, the combination of a ring supporting the lantern and having recesses in its edge, a yielding crosshandle at one end, acatch engaging in said recesses in the supporting-ring, a spring tending to hold said catch in engagement with said recesses, and a fixed cross-handle extending beneath the yielding crosshandle.

GUSTAVE MADDEN.

YVitnesses:

FREDK. T. VAUX, A. WEINBERG. 

